A nearly three-month investigation into sexual misconduct at the LPD found that at least 10 officers inappropriately had sex or were engaged in sexually suggestive behavior with a female civilian employee during the past seven years.

By JEREMY MAREADY, MATTHEW PLEASANT & RICK ROUSOSTHE LEDGER

LAKELAND | A nearly three-month investigation into sexual misconduct at the Lakeland Police Department found that at least 10 officers inappropriately had sex or were engaged in sexually suggestive behavior with a female civilian employee during the past seven years.Investigators detailed allegations of forced sex, sexual harassment and consensual sex but said any criminal allegations couldn't be proven, according to the report and a letter by State Attorney Jerry Hill, which he hand-delivered Tuesday to LPD Chief Lisa Womack.The report said seven of the officers accused admitted to sexual wrongdoing — from having sex to taking and sharing pictures of sex organs — during sworn statements with investigators from the State Attorney's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.Five of those officers included high-ranking members of the department, the highest of which was Capt. John Thomason, the department's spokesman and its patrol and training supervisor.Some of the acts, which were explicitly detailed in a 59-page summary report, occurred while the officers were on duty and happened at LPD headquarters; in other city buildings; in LPD patrol cars; at city parks; and on private property, including at least one incident in a closed church building, according to the report.The officers accused in the report of having sex or having committed sexually suggestive behavior are Thomason; Lt. Al Wilson; Sgts. Bryan McNabb, Rusty Longaberger and David Woolverton; Detective Rick Gries; Officers George Vidal and Scott Hutton; and former officers Steve Sherman and Rawn Haynes.About 10 other officers, former officers and a former city supervisor are mentioned in interviews conducted by state investigators as having done something improper. The Ledger is not naming them because they were not interviewed by prosecutors to respond to allegations against them.Ledger calls to the female civilian employee's home were not returned Tuesday. The Ledger is not naming her because of its policy of not identifying alleged victims of sex crimes and molestation of children.The Ledger asked the police department to contact the officers named in the report and give them a chance to respond, but no response was received.In a two-page letter to Womack, Hill questioned whether the alleged sexual improprieties could give insight to a variety of problems at LPD that have come to light in the last several months."I cannot ignore the fact that several of the officers involved in this matter are high ranking officers in your department," Hill wrote. "Some of the officers were directly responsible for training other officers at LPD. "Perhaps this investigation sheds some light on the serious shortcomings of your department in the areas of traffic stops, search and seizure, thoroughness of investigations, preparedness for trial and complying with Florida Public Records law. "Had these members of your department been more focused on the important responsibilities of law enforcement, rather than pursuing sexual encounters with a civilian (employee), the LPD might not be in the condition it is today."The city of Lakeland will hold a news conference today to discuss the contents of the investigative report, city spokesman Kevin Cook said Tuesday night."The City of Lakeland and the Lakeland Police Department take these charges very seriously and will discipline those that have violated policy and a full update will be given once the internal investigation is concluded," Cook said. "We are obviously concerned that there are allegations against senior officers that should have known better, and ... the alleged conduct is not becoming of the City of Lakeland and the Lakeland Police Department."Assistant Chief Larry Giddens also said Thomason was relieved Tuesday of his duties as the department's spokesman. He will continue, however, in his official capacity as captain.No action was taken against LPD employees named in the report Tuesday as a result of the investigation; however, some changes could be coming, Giddens said.Hill said his office will no longer accept testimony from the three sergeants — McNabb, Longaberger and Woolverton — pending the outcome of an ongoing LPD internal investigation. Those officers denied part or all of the allegations against them, the investigators' report said.Longaberger, who oversees the LPD school resource officer program, and Woolverton, who is in the department's traffic unit, were placed on paid administrative leave earlier this month. Wilson, who oversees the department's traffic and special-operations unit, and Hutton, who is a motorcycle officer, were placed on modified duty but have since been returned to their normal assignments.Hill concluded his letter by reiterating a call he made last week for city leaders to "immediately take steps to provide Lakeland with law enforcement that is truly ‘Committed to Excellence.'"

LACK OF FINDINGSActs that might have been criminal couldn't be prosecuted, State Attorney's Office investigators wrote in their report, because too much time had passed, and they were unable to pinpoint specific dates of the alleged acts."This fact, along with the failure to preserve certain physical evidence, and the failure of confidantes to immediately report prevents the State Attorney's Office from filing criminal charges against the perpetrators," the report said."We find the conduct of a number of sworn officers, including some officers of rank, to be at best a waste of taxpayer dollars," the investigators wrote in their findings. "At worst, their actions indicate a moral bankruptcy that exists amongst some individuals within the ranks at the Lakeland Police Department.The people listed in the report who were accused of impropriety or had significant parts in the investigation include:

CAPT. JOHN THOMASONThomason, who is married, told investigators he and the civilian employee talked about getting together to have sex but never did.In 2010, Thomason met a friend of the civilian employee at LPD and told investigators he was "somewhat attracted to her and wanted to pursue her for sex," the report said.In 2010, or early 2011, the civilian employee told Thomason to take a photo of his penis so she could send it to her friend, the report said. Thomason said he took the employee's cellphone into a restroom at the department and took a photo of his penis. He then gave the phone back to the employee. Thomason also said he met the employee's friend several times in different locations between 2010 and 2012 and had oral sex and fondled each other. One of those instances happened at Lake Parker Park, where he thought he was almost spotted by a patrolling officer.When asked for comment Tuesday, Thomason declined, saying that it was against department policy.

LT. AL WILSONWilson and the civilian employee had known each other for five or six years, and Wilson said the employee was a "big flirt" and tried to have sex with him on several occasions, the report said.He denied having sex or sexual contact with the employee, who did not report to him, the report said. But admitted the two flirted and had sex talk between 2010 and 2012. The employee also showed Wilson photos of herself in lingerie and videos of her masturbating.In another instance, the employee went to Wilson's office where he touched the employee between her legs while the two were on duty, he told investigators."Wilson said he was stupid, and he does not know what he was thinking," investigators wrote. The woman reported Wilson also took her hand and placed it on his penis over his clothing, the reports said. She said was uncomfortable but did not report the incident because she thought he was "protected.""The truth will come out at the end of the (internal affairs) investigation," Wilson told The Ledger on Tuesday. "A lot of the stuff she is saying about me isn't true."

SGT. DAVID WOOLVERTONSome of the LPD employee's most serious allegations involve Sgt. David Woolverton, a traffic homicide unit member. The employee said Woolverton on two occasions entered her office and forced her to have sex on top of her desk — an accusation he repeatedly said was false, according to the investigators's report.Based on the State Attorney's Office report, the alleged incidents occurred in 2008 or 2009.Woolverton said they did have consensual sex in his vehicle in 2006 and 2007 at Lake Parker Park. He also said they exchanged explicit text messages that included videos and pictures.The State Attorney's Office offered Woolverton a polygraph test, but he declined.Investigators confirmed the employee told others, including coworkers, that Woolverton had assaulted her. One was Jackie Suggs, an LPD victim advocate. Suggs said she did not report the allegations because her co-worker was a "grown woman," the reports said."Suggs added she doesn't normally blame the victim, but (the employee) should have reported it at the time instead of four to five years later," the report said.Others who knew about it included an acquaintance who told investigators she tried to help the employee, who said she had been molested by relatives as a child.As a result of the alleged rape, the employee began cutting herself and had attempted suicide by taking pills, the acquaintance said.

SGT. RUSTY LONGABERGERThe employee also made serious allegations involving Sgt. Rusty Longaberger, who is in charge of the school resource officers. In 2012, Longaberger drove to Orlando to have sex with her two to three times while she was attending training. The report said Longaberger confirmed that happened in 2012.During one of those trysts, the employee alleges Longaberger forced her to have a certain type of sex that she didn't want to have. Longaberger denied that allegation, according to reports.The employee also accused Longaberger of forcing her perform oral sex on him as he drove his vehicle around the city, an allegation he also denied, the reports said.

SGT. BRYAN MCNABBThe employee told investigators that Sgt. Bryan McNabb asked her on numerous occasions to wear a short skirt with no underwear to work because he wanted the woman to spread her legs so he could look at her.In another incident in the LPD parking lot, the reports said, McNabb asked her repeatedly to touch his penis. It was unwanted attention, she told investigators she finally relented because she feared retaliation and was "intimidated by him."The woman said she told another employee, LPD Crime Analyst Tiffany Dwyer, who resigned during the investigation, and Officer Loretta Jackson about the incident, the reports said.McNabb denied the allegations and said it was the employee who came on to him, saying she implied she gave good oral sex, the report said. But he did not file a formal complaint.

OFFICER GEORGE VIDALWhen the civilian employee considered enrolling in the police academy in 2006, she met Officer George Vidal, who was in charge of recruitment for the department, reports said.When she was in his office one day, he closed the door and said he wanted to have sex with her, but she told him, "No," reports said.Another time in 2006, Vidal asked her to go to the third floor of the department with him, the report said. He opened a closet and began fondling her and removing his clothes. The employee said she had sex with him.Vidal provided a different account to investigators.He said the woman was flirtatious and that he tried to limit his contact with her, the report said. He initially denied having sex with the woman but later revealed a day in 2006 when he was getting items out of a closet and she walked in and began rubbing against him."Vidal said he had a low blood sugar episode and went down on his knees," the investigators wrote in their report. "It was sort of foggy, and he blacked out."Vidal told investigators he suffered from erectile dysfunction and was unable to get an erection, the report said. He said the woman straddled him while he was on the floor, unbuckled his pants and attempted to have sex with him.

DETECTIVE RICK GRIESThe employee told investigators that Detective Rick Gries had touched her in a sexual manner several times at the police department while they were both on duty, the report said.In 2009, Gries came into the woman's office and exposed his penis to her, telling her she "could have it," the woman told investigators. But the woman was worried about getting involved with him because his wife worked at the department. She told investigators Gries also touched her breasts several times this year and grabbed her buttocks.Gries said their relationship was initially professional, but it turned sexual, the report said. They also showed each other nude pictures of themselves.Gries also said the woman grabbed his penis over his clothes at the department, the report said.

LAKELAND FIRE DEPARTMENT INSPECTOR DAVID BIVENSLakeland Fire Department Inspector David Bivens told investigators he had sex with the employee on two occasions in his office. One of those times was during the city's annual Fourth of July event, Red, White and Kaboom, when he was in charge of overseeing safety, the reports said.Bivens also said they has sex in her vehicle after the funeral service reception for Officer Arnulfo Crispin, who was killed on duty in a 2011 shooting. This occurred while her vehicle sat parked outside The Lakeland Center where the reception was held, he told investigators.The employee also told State Attorney's Office investigators of sexual advances made by Officer Scott Hutton, who denied the allegations.

OFFICER STEVE SHERMANThe woman told investigators she and Sherman had sexual intercourse in 2011 and 2012 while he was on duty, with several encounters at Without Walls Church. The second time at the church, they were caught by another LPD officer. She said she also met Sherman for sex near Kathleen Road and Interstate 4 and at a cemetery. She said there was another on-duty sexual liaison at a police mini-station.Sherman told investigators he initially lied to the LPD about his involvement to protect his job, family and reputation, the reports said. Sherman said he was embarrassed and regretful of what he did.

FORMER OFFICER RAWN HAYNES Investigators wrote that former police Officer Haynes acknowledged he exposed his penis to the woman central to the investigation and texted to her a photo of it. He said that he also texted Dwyer some pictures of his penis. He said neither relationship advanced to having sex.

LORETTA JACKSON Investigators interviewed Jackson because they said they thought she had "key information" about the troubles at LPD. The woman at the center of the investigation "confided in Jackson her most innermost secrets," the investigative report said. Jackson said that when she realized "what a train wreck" the situation was, she was at a loss for how to handle it. She said she didn't believe the woman until she saw various racy text photos of LPD coworkers. Jackson "kept the information secret, even the instances that (the woman) relayed that she had been raped by LPD officers." Jackson was the woman's true confidante.Loretta Jackson was a confidante to the woman in the middle of the investigation. Jackson was aware of almost everything the woman did. She tried to counsel and console the woman, but never reported the sex scandal to supervisors.